New Beggining
by iamtheloaf
Summary: Takes place 7 years after Rachels death. Marco and Cassie  and my OC Juliet, if u dont like, just ignore her  meet up in a diner for a friendly lunch, however, circumstances soon become wierd. R/T  Rachel does make an appearance, worry not!  PLEASE READ!


Jake sat in his small house, alone. As always. but today was different, he was going to make gamble. Take a chance. One last time.

He looked around at his home. If you could call it that. He rarely did anything. And it was never cleaned. It was just a kitchen and a bedroom. And in those two rooms was oatmeal, and leftover pizza, a couch, a bed, and a tv. Nothing else. No homey comforts.

There wasnt much to do here, he didnt even have cable. So what did he do all day? he thought. A lot. And now too, he thought. He thought of his friends. Or were they even consider him a friend now? he didnt know. He didnt want to. He thought of Marco, his best friend, who still came around sometimes, but they never said much. When they were young it seemed like there were endless topics of conversation, now, it seemed, there was nothing to talk about at all. He thought of Jules, whom could always see the truth, no matter what. Her blatant honesty, that was not always honest, and her ability to manipulate, and her kind smile. The way she loved her friends. Her constant singing of show tunes. He thought of Ax, in some faraway galaxy by now. Still fighting perhaps, maybe he had settled down, who knows? But he hoped he was well. He thought of Tobias, who, he knew, would never forgive him, and he was glad for that. He deserved to be hated. He had known that when he sent Rachel to die, that Tobias would die with her, even while his heart still beat. He thought of Cassie, who, after all these years he still loved, but it just wasnt the same anymore. And Cassie, after seeing what Jake had become, had moved on. And finally, he thought of Rachel. Dead, because of him. They had survived so much together, and then, at that final battle, hed seen the way to win. That a to b line that Marco had always been so keen on. The way to save the human race. Hed always wondered, had there been another way? If he just continued the war longer, could they all have made it through? He didnt know, and again, he didnt want to.

Now, there was only one thing left for him to do.

He took a deep breath. "Ellimist?"

* * *

Marco and Cassie sat in the diner together. They came here regularly, him, Cassie, and his girlfriend Jules. As he called them, "the only real survivors", the only ones that could still live their lives semi-normally. Unlike Tobias, who was lost without Rachel, Ax, who continued to fight still, and Jake, who, in the end, had just cracked.

And Rachel of course, who was just dead.

"So, have you seen Jake lately?" Cassie asked.

Marco sighed. "yea, hes just the same, if your wondering. I dont think hes gonna make a miracle 360. Sorry Cass, looks like your stuck with Rodney, or Rick, or Dick, whatever his name is.

"Ronnie." she said tolerantly. "and its not like i wanted to know so we could get back together." both of them made no comment on the obvious lie. "wheres Jules?" Cassie wondered.

"she had a hair appointment, shell be here in a few."

She nodded, and at that moment, Juliet walked in.

Marco smiled at his girlfriend-soon-to-be-fiancee. Hopefully. "Hey Jules! we were just talking about you."

"I hope for your sake you were discussing my shining personality and equally shiny hair." She said, doing the whole pantene commercial head shake as she sat down next to Marco. "well actually i was telling Cassie about your annoying cover hogging habit and how much your appetite is costing us in grocery bills." she laughed and hit him upside the head. then she suddenly got nervous. "well, ive been meaning to talk to you about that..." "what, about how your a pig? i was just joking." "i know but... my diet has been off lately, and well, i know why. i didnt go to a hair appointment today, i went to the doctors." "why?" marco asked flatly.

'well... ill just spit it out. Its a girl. I think we should name her Rachel." Marco started chocking on his chocolate shake. "excuse me?"

"you heard me." "oh my god." "Congrats!" Cassie squealed.

"thank you!"

"Hey Cassie, i--" Marcos eyebrows shot up into his hair and his jaw dropped, mirrored by Juliet. "well, i was not expecting this at all. Hey Tobias."

Cassie turned around at the speed of light.

And, sure enough, in walked Tobias, at the exact same age hed always been. See, for him human is just a morph, and morphs dont age. He looked shabby, and his hair was messy, he had a dead look in his eye that he hadnt had back in the day. But still, seeing him like that was like a window into the past. Visions came flooding back to them. Marco, teasing Rachel while chilling on a pile of hay, Tobias in the rafters, looking down, Jules, standing next to Marco, laughing, Cassie, trying not to look amused, Ax, utterly confused at human humor, and Jake, trying to keep it serious. Failing, as he always did. Had. Back then.

Marco swallowed hard as the memories came. Them. Chilling. Morphing. Fighting the Yeerks. Together. _All_ of them.

"Hey." Tobias said, looking at all of them. "whats this about?" he asked. "you tell me. I did not see this one coming." Jules said.

Tobias looked at Cassie. "You told me to come. so whats going on." Cassie looked surprised. "what are you talking about? i didnt tell you anything." "what? you came to my meadow yourself and told me to be here today in human morph. didnt you?" "i did no such thing. what the hells going on?"

"well, someone came to my meadow, in your body and invited me here. so, any explanations?"

Marco jumped into immediate paranoia mode. 'well, itd be easy enough to morph Cassie and tell Tobias to come here, but why? and who? A yeerk maybe, who wants revenge, wants all of us in the same place..." "I dont think so Captain Paranoia. Lets just chill out here." Jules said. "It could just be..." Then her jaw dropped and her face paled from the nice tan she had to pure white, nothing like the surprise of seeing Tobias. This was pure, true shock. Soon followed by Marco, who looked like he could not believe his eyes, and proceeded blinking a few times and rubbing them. Cassie turned around, and as she did, stood up immediately, and banged her knee on the table. Tobias blinked several times, and then just fell to his knees, gaping at the doorway.

Where stood Rachel, just as shed been before, tall, blond, beautiful. She was smiling her classic Rachel smile.

"Hey guys." She said smirking. "whats wrong? you look like youve seen a ghost." then she laughed her self-mocking laugh. Tobias walked up to her as if in a trance and touched her face, and her shoulders, trying to make sure she was real. That this wasnt all a dream.

Her eyes softened as she looked at him. "Hey." she said, then she kissed him.

"no way..." he muttered as he pulled back. "no way... this has got to be a dream... this is just impossible..."

"what the bloody hell is going on here?" Marco demanded, scowling. He doesnt like to be confused. He likes it when everything makes sense. This made none.

Rachel went up to their booth and sat down next to Cassie, then pulled up a chair for Tobias. "well, the ellimist gave me my life back." "7 years later? what the hell for?" Tobias demanded. "if he was gonna bring you back anyway, why wait?" Rachel shrugged. "He just brought me back, and told me that it was 7 years later and the balance of the universe wasnt upset by this. then disappeared. I morphed Cassie and invited you Tobias. The ellimist told me you 3 come here every week. probably the most specific thing that guys ever told us." she added bitterly.

"Not quite." Said a wheezy voice behind them, chuckling. They recognized the old man as a form the ellimist frequently took.

Marco scowled. "you! what the hell is going on here? i mean, im grateful and all, but theres got to be something else going on here! a catch." he looked at Tobias in his temporary body. "theres always a catch." the ellimist put his wrinkled hands up in surrender. "No catches here. The balance of the universe is intact." "how?" Marco demanded. "you can randomly bring people back to life and all is right in the universe? In that case bring back my grandpa Joe, and Josh finkly, he still owes me money." the ellimist smiled. "no, it does not work that way Marco, though it would be nice if it did." then his smile faltered. "i adhered to the laws of the universe. a life for a life." he said, then he disappeared.

"what did that mean?" Jules asked. "im not sure i want to know.." Marco muttered darkly. "Hey guys?" Rachel said, looking around. "wheres Jake?"

Cassie turned to look at her "whos Jake?"


End file.
